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What's the best masking tape?


LankyStreak

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My narrowboat has dark blue sides topped with a gloss Bounty Red handrail.  Over the years the red has faded away so that the primer is showing through and I plan to prime and repaint the handrails while the boat's in dry dock for blacking.  There are so many masking tapes on the market, some say don't use with gloss, others say don't stick to metal.  Can anyone please recommend a good quality masking tape for the almost straight line of the cabin sides (but with a gentle sweeping curve towards the stern) so I can repaint the handrails without the paint bleeding down onto the cabin sides?  This photo was taken 3 years ago and the red has half disappeared now.  Thanks.

 

 

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I find masking tape is either too sticky and pulls off the paint you've stuck it to, or the paint bleeds under the edge. On balance I find the green "Frog Tape" is best despite the nosebleed price. Don't be tempted to try any of the other colours of "Frog Tape".

 

Whatever tape you use, put it on, paint immediately them remove tape immediately. The longer you leave it on the harder it sticks then it either pulls off the base paint or the paper fractures and you have to spend hours on end scraping it off inch by inch.

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Hi

The professional painters I work with vary, but the following are in regular use and give crisp, clean lines. All are safe to leave on for some time, say up to 14 days. 

Kleen Edge tape and Tesa 3443  ( think the numbers are right) Both available from decent decorators’ merchants or chandleries.

Craftmaster 14 day, red, from Craftmaster paints or their stockists. 

Avoid cheap paper backed types like the plague. Good luck!

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The best sort I have found is a vinyl-type tape, usually red and about 8-10 mm wide. Can be taken off the next day leaving a very clean edge.  Be wary of using old tape though, as it can leave some of the glue behind when you take it off.  Using fresh tape, i've left it on for several days and it still came off ok.  You can also do surprisingly tight curves with it, e.g. on the roof leaving a contrasting circle around the mushrooms.

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I used both red and green Frog tape and despite being on for a week or so both came off cleanly. The side that got several thunderstorms on did leave a white line but it simply polished off. However despite the Frog tape claims I did first paint a thin line in the "under the tape" colour and wiped it off with white spirit, letting it dry before painting. This seals the edge of the tape and helps leave a clean line. Trouble is your blue has probably faded.

 

I slightly refer the yellow (low tack) frog tape for use on the cabin side.

Edited by Tony Brooks
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The best of the rubbish ones is Frog Tape. I haven't tried any of those that Dave Moore has recomended but I would think that if the pros use them then they must be okay. All the ones I have tried have all suffered from paint bleed. Even Frog Tape to an extent although Frog was not too bad. I eventually used the vinyl tape that Dor talks about but I didn't use it to mask I used it as the coach line. not the same as a pristine clean edged painted line but much much easier.

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18 minutes ago, bizzard said:

You need a lovely smooth paint finish to prevent paint bleed, its tiny nibs under the edges of the  tape. that genaerally cause it.

I have found that if you paint 2 coats on successive days and then remove the masking tape, there will be enough of an edge to the paint that you can touch up any paint bleeds with the 'under' colour, using a small artists type brush, painting up against the edge.

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Its not masking tape you use to get a sharp no bleed line, its "fine lining tape" made by 3Ms as used on cars. Its only 6mm wide so you use masking tape under it, with your paper sheet, overlapped to get a wider mask.

You will get a perfect sharp line with this, and because it is narrow, it will bend to a curve.  

Do not try the bendable tapes, they are crap, like crepe paper, and the paint runs underneath.

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The lining tape idea might work slightly better. Most cars have a beautifully smooth paint finish, painted in a dust free booth and mopped afterwards, so of course lining tape works well on them.  Most boats though are hand painted, not in a dust proof booth, often outside and so not as smooth and free of nibs-'' dust nibs'' as car paintwork.

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Thank you all so much for your comments.  This is the Canalworld forum at its best.  I've learnt so much from your wise comments and they've enabled me to Google further and understand far better how to prepare for what I naively thought would be a simple job.  Thanks again.

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11 hours ago, David Mack said:

I have found that if you paint 2 coats on successive days and then remove the masking tape, there will be enough of an edge to the paint that you can touch up any paint bleeds with the 'under' colour, using a small artists type brush, painting up against the edge.

Also after just two days you will often find that the paint under the tape is still soft so a rag & white spirit will often take the bleeds off.

  • Greenie 1
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Going against most of the advice on here I use cheap and cheerful masking tape from Home Bargains, 79p for 14 metres, it's 2 inches wide. If you're exceptionally tight you can even carefully cut the roll in half with a sharp knife, giving you 28 metres for 79p. Although it's cheap (or perhaps because it is) the glue on it is only medium tack so will not remove sound paint below it. I used a finger nail to push the edge of the tape where the paint will go very firmly to the paint. Removed tape immediately after painting, I had perfect lines, apart from where there were imperfections with the hull, small raised welds etc.  

 

Curves are a little difficult but I achieved mine by selecting a plate or similar that has the curve required. Use this to draw a pencil line on the paint. Then, use cheap and cheerful electrical tape to follow the pencil line, this tape curves nicely. The finish wasn't perfect, it's difficult to get an exact curve but again, the tape didn't remove sound paint under it nor was there any bleeding of the new paint under it.

 

Best bet, if you're unsure about any tape you're going to use, do a practice run on an area that you will subsequently overpaint.

  • Greenie 1
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I have just painted my handrails also bounty red ( epifanes ) they where looking bad like lankystreaks , I used kleenedge nice sharp line I have also used yellow frog tape as well in the past with great success 

 

 

 

 

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